A Lone Echo Of Movement

 A Lone Echo Of Movement

If you have been following my blog, last week we did a wonderful post on SUPERHOT VR, a game where time only passes when you move. Today we will be talking about Lone Echo, a game where you are in space and experience anti-gravity. So in this game, you are a robot whose name is Jack. This name is given to you by your human friend Captain Olivia Rhodes, who runs the station. In addition to you and her, there are other robots and many drones. You are on a mining station that is orbiting Saturn. It’s a normal day until an anomaly happens and you must figure out what it is and also repair the station. 

Let’s talk about equipment. 

Laptop and mouse and sensors.

Controller

Controller.

Headset.

Headset.

This is the same equipment as last time. There’s a laptop and mouse to host the VR system. Sensors track movement and can tell if you move out of the play area. Controllers act as hands. There are two buttons on each controller. There is a grip button and a trigger button. There’s also one more button on each controller that operate like menu buttons usually. There’s a touch sensor that can tell if your thumb is touching the controller. 

Arm.

Here’s an interesting thing. This game actually attempts to track your arms. This is unusual for VR games. Normally they just track hands. 

Menu.

Pause menu.

Loading screen.

Robot design.

This is a blueprint of what your robot looks like.

Starting screen.

Still starting room.

You start in a pod. Think of it like an escape pod almost. Really it’s probably more of a life support pod. You are stuck. 

Training sim.

Training sim.

Let’s talk about the training sims. You get sent to this throughout the game. Basically, your mind is uploaded to the matrix. You are still in a pod. The first picture shows a drone. This is actually the mining station AI HERA. In these sims, she moves very slow and flies around. The thing that is in front of you is a disk generator. 

Lone Echo is technically two games. Lone Echo is a single player game. Echo Arena is the other game. It is basically online frisbee. In Lone Echo, there are holographic buttons in the game. You have to literally hold the grip button and point so that you can hit the button with your finger. To grab objects, you reach for the object and hold the grip button. It actually has you grab the frisbee and throw it into the goal. The physics of the frisbee are very accurate. In Echo Arena, you can actually throw the frisbee at other players and it’s a weapon. It is worth noting that when you throw something, sometimes you move in the opposite direction of where you threw it because there is no gravity. 

Moving.

Moving.

So, in order to move, you have to pull the lever at the top of the pod you start in the training sim. Then you have to grab objects and move. You can also grab and push off of objects and you will go in the direction you pushed off from. So if you push off behind you, you go forward. The entire game is in anti-gravity. You don’t have to worry about gravity. Oh wait, there is no gravity; if you push off, you are stuck going in that direction. 

Boosters.

Boosters.

The game has to account for not having gravity somehow. Boosters allow you to change direction in midair and get to places faster. To boost, there is a button on both controllers. I keep grouping the two diagonal buttons together. You hold the X button on the left controller and the A button on the right controller to boost. Your boosters are tied to your wrists. You can have one booster or the other or both. You move in the direction your arms are pointing. If you use one, it has limited effect. If you use both, you move faster. These boosters allow for more complex movement and can save you. 

No touch objects.

Some objects can not be touched. If you touch them, you die. The picture above is a booster sim. You can touch no objects or walls. You have to use your boosters to navigate through. 

Previous deaths sim world.

Deaths sim world.

I have not explained a fun part of this game's simulations. While you are in a sim world, you can die and respawn. This thing in my hand here, that’s me. I touched a wall at the very end and kind of exploded. The game tracks your previous deaths in the sim world and you restart the training mission. 

Communications.

Talking.

Talking.

You can talk in this game by holding the Y button on the left controller while looking at a valid object to talk to or talk about. You then poke an option. That’s what you say. 

Tablets.

If you have seen any of the Iron Man series, you have probably seen holograms similar to this. When you open most menus, you get a holographic tablet that you can hold and throw. Throwing destroys the hologram. 

Robot worker drones.

You are much closer to an AI than other robots. There are robotic worker drones. They move like you but act differently. They are hollow drones. They have very limited things they do. They can be helpful for information and occasionally do something. 

Transport.

This is a transport. It helps you move around. There are rockets on the back and it has thrusters. Transports take you to preset locations in the game. They are very fast. Do not let go. 

Data Scanner.

The data scanner helps scan objects.

Bridge controls.

This is a control on the main bridge of the station. Notice there are more buttons. There are a lot of buttons in this game. 

Dinosaurs.

For anyone who has seen the show Firefly or Serenity the movie, the character Wash the Pilot plays with dinosaurs. This is more of a joke than anything else but Wash was here. 

Space.

The entire game is set in space above Saturn. 

Cargo Platform.

Storage in space is kept in cargo containers. 

Main station.

The main station has a lot of things. It has a control room for all robots, sat drones, and an AI. 

Holo table.

Holo table.

Holo table

Holo Table.

Holo Table.

Holo Table.

Holo Table.

Holo Table.

Holo Table.

Holo Table.

There is a holo table. You can hit holo buttons and examine the systems of the station. You can see information about what a system does. You can see errors and data corruption. 

Missions.

Missions pop up on your wrist. You can hit the button or slide sliders to look at missions. When you hit play like this picture shows, you go into a training mission. When you have a slider and open the mission tablet, you can select missions by hitting the mission button next to the mission you want. 

Data scanner.

Data scanner.

Data ports.

Data tablet.

You can access your data scanner by hitting the button on the top of your wrists. You have to line your scanner with the ports (square like tablets) and hold the triggers on the controller that has the scanner to use it. The scanner gives you tablets. 

Cubesat.

Cubesat.

Cubesat.

Cubesat.

Cubesats are little robots that go around collecting information They have scanners built into them. Their movement is slow because they have thrusters on all sides.  You have to scan cubesats to have them activate. 

Pods.

There are pods everywhere in the game. You can find them anywhere. This is a pod for another one of your models.

Oxygen system.

These are plants on a space station.

Remote control for fury transport toy.

There is a remote control transport. There is a remote you can control with one controller the same way you would move. You move the transport by holding the remote and moving the thumbstick to change direction and the A or X button to boost.  There are actually many tools in the game. 

Reactive cutter.

Reactive cutter.

Reactive cutter.

You hit the button on the bottom of either wrist to get the reactive cutter. You use the trigger on the controller you have the cutter on. The cutter is basically a blow torch. You use it to cut through things. It should be noted that you can only have one data scanner out and one cutter out. 

Helmet visor.

There are buttons on your helmet in the game. You can hit the left button to lift your datavisor off and on. It gives you a better view when you take it off. It gives you more of a tech view when it’s down. There is a button on the right that is a flashlight. You do both of these things by pretending or actually poking yourself in the head on the left or right. Again to point and poke things, you need to hold the grip button and point. 

Panel.

This was showcasing an example of using the cutter. You can blow torch the bolts on a panel. 

Mini game.

Mini game.

Watering plants.

Mini game.

Mini game.

There are a couple mini games. One is a game where you control the CO2 and O2 levels with tabs and knobs and levers. Another is a pressure game where you pump a lever. The last is a power game where you move power cells to align power until you have a full row. 

Cargo.

There are cargo compartments. These are powered by fuses that power gravity locks. There is also a lever to lock them in place with metal locks. 

Radiation room.

Radiation room.

The core containment or radiation room is an important room. 

Radiation shield.

Radiation Shield.

Radiation shield.

Radiation shield.

You have a radiation shield. This is very useful. You can see it on your right wrist. You can also use the data scanner to read levels of radiation. I should tell you that when you use it, it puts a point on your screen that shows you what the level of radiation is in the spot you pointed to. 

Radiation shield generator.

When you pull a lever like this, it recharges your radiation shield. 

Radiation.

This is a power cell. It has been corroded by radiation. The machine behind it is meant to eject the cell into space. You put it in there and pull a lever and it launches it. 

Body transfer.

I may have lied a little earlier. When you die in the game you are transferred to a new body. 

Old body.

All your deaths are where you died. Look, it's me. 

Holo table.

Anomaly. 

I forgot to mention that you can rotate the Holo table by holding the ring below the hologram and moving it. Holding and releasing with the grip button does this. The anomaly is unidentifiable. The data is corrupted. Looking at the image might give you an idea of what it is. 

Jet pack.

Jet pack.

Jet pack.

You can use a jetpack. Just put it on your back. You push down the right thumbstick like a button to boost and push down the left thumbstick to brake. 

Decompression chamber.

There is a chamber to go outside. You hit the buttons to depressurize and repressurize the room. You pull the lever to lock the room. Then you open the doors. 

Transport.

Transport.

The transport is very nice. It has its own holo map where you can hit buttons. You tap a location and it takes you there. Hold on because it’s fast. You can get launched into space. You can also die by getting run over by a transport. You die if you get too far from the command station. The game has its own kill zone. If you die, you get uploaded to a new you. 

We are at the end of what I have been able to share. I recommend playing the game if you can. You can get it from the Oculus store. The Anomaly ends up being very cool. 

So I’ve shown another VR game. Here you hopefully understand that you can experience space in the game. As opposed to SUPERHOT, you have no control of your legs. It’s all pushing off of things and using boosters and a jetpack. It is a very complex movement. It is probably one of the best games I’ve played in terms of cool movement. As I said before, I’m using an Oculus Rift. The game is available in the Oculus store. Please give feedback in the comments.